Greek Eye
by Ares Burn
Summary: After finding out that Athena, the goddess of wisdom and warfare is leaving the Olympian Council, Percy is feeling obligated to help Annabeth return her to her sanity before things get out of control. Set after TLO. May contain spoilers.
1. Greek Eye

Greek Eye

**I don't know what happened, but you have to be extremely bored to be a fifteen year old kid, staying up until four o' clock in the morning writing novels and fanfictions. i'll tell you, it's tiring. Enjoy the story, and warn/tell me if it goes too far. ****P.S. I don't own PJO or anything that goes with it.**

Betrayal. The simple breath it takes to speak one single word can mean the end to the life you thought you could live and pretend to have and shatter the world around you. One little word can lead to disaster.

The ratio of words to actions in this case is the equivalent of feathers to bricks, heavier to carry with you, but it can often strike more to the emotions than to the physical parts to a person's people, when they hear the word _betrayal_, think of one definition:

The definition that comes to mind is a form of treason, but more shallow, less definite to the world.

But I know a different form of the word. To me, the ultimate betrayal would be having you turn against yourself.

There I was, sitting at my table in Camp Half-Blood, my favorite place in the world, staring at the table across and to the right of mine: the Athena table.

More intently, I was staring at the one person from the cabin who seemed to understand me more than anyone at camp. Annabeth Chase was my best friend and also the person I've grown to admire the most of anyone I've ever met. You could even go to say I liked her . . . maybe.

Anyway, I was staring at Annabeth because over the last few days, she's been quiet and antisocial, the exact opposite of what she usually is; an open-minded and constructive person who wasn't afraid to speak her mind, and it worried me because I thought it may have been something I did, and she was out casting everyone because of me. That's the last thing I wanted; I didn't have very many friends at camp, spare Annabeth and my satyr friend Grover so making her mad was not a brilliant idea—especially with her knife always close by.

Now before you get off and assume that I think Annabeth is mad and it's all my fault; boo-hoo me; think again. I'm just worried for her, that's all.

After dinner I took a stroll down to the Athena cabin to talk with Annabeth. The door was open, but I knocked anyway.

"Knock knock. Annabeth, you home?"

The only response was a sniffle. I looked over towards her bunk and found my friend lying face down on her pillow. She was sobbing.

I walked over to her sympathetically. "What's wrong?" I asked.

Annabeth inhaled through her nose sharply, "It's nothing Percy," she said, "Just go away." Though it was muffled from under the pillow.

I sat myself down on the bed, careful not to sit on her. "It's not 'nothing' that makes you cry. Now tell me what the problem is."

She lifted her head off of the pillow and looked at me. Her eyes were red and she had tears dripping from her cheeks. "I told you it's nothing Percy, now if you respect me, you'll leave me alone."

I didn't feel like making her anonymous situation any worse so I backed off and left her alone with one last comment. "Alright, but you know, if you ever want to come talk to me about it, I'm here for you."

She nodded.

As I walked out the door, I ran into Annabeth's half-sister, Sophia.

"Oh, sorry Percy." She said.

I thought for half a second and pulled Sophia aside.

"What are you doing?" she practically screamed at me.

"Hold on a second." I said. "I need to talk to you."

"About what?" she asked, though it came out pretty harsh.

"Do you know what's up with Annabeth lately?"

She met my gaze and for a second her grey eyes flashed, like I'd insulted her grandmother or something, but they calmed just as quickly and grew into a look of concern. "I don't know, it's been worrying me and she won't talk to anyone about it, she's not in the mood for sword fighting or architecture, or anything. It's really unlike her."

I stared up at the sky, "Tell her to come by the Poseidon cabin when she feels up to it."

"Sure Percy." She said.

"Thanks."

She nodded and walked inside her cabin.

**Chapter one: Done. I'm thinking about five. Keep reading them and I'll keep writing.**


	2. The Finding

Greek Eye

Chapter 2

I walked back to my cabin feeling tired. My alarm clock read 9:30 but I felt like it was midnight. I opened my door and immediately collapsed on my bed.

Not seconds later, I fell asleep.

I was standing on the edge of a cliff, the silver moon staring down on me, the fog over the sea in front of me was thick, and I could barely see the hand in front of my face. The temperature was below freezing, and my bones were glacial in my body. The moon started to glow faintly, casting a silvery radiance over the landscape.

A shiver ran down my spine as a raspy voice spoke loud in my mind, casting an echo through my ears, "Come down, Perseus Jackson, and see what beholds you throughout the sands of time."

Mesmerized, my eyes glassy, I instinctively took a step forward, not realizing I was standing on the edge of a sheer cliff overlooking the churning ocean three-hundred feet below, if I fell, I'd shatter on impact. But I didn't, I was standing, in mid-air! I looked down and nearly had a heart attack. I gazed down, to see an angry vortex stirring the tides below. The whirlpool was the size of a city block, but sounded, and looked like the biggest toilet ever being flushed. Then the voice crashed into my mind, "Do not stare at the mighty Charybdis below, it will not bring you harm, of course, unless I want it to. Step down the staircase, spiraling to the cavern entrance below."

I did as I was told, but, finding the cave, I heard noises coming from inside, I stopped cold. When I was within fifty feet, I heard voices; voices I

found extremely familiar. "How do you know?" a stern, deep voice echoed from the rocks.

"Silence, someone approaches." Another voice, this one _way_ more familiar.

That's when I walked through the entrance of the cavern; only to be faced by eleven giant immortals I knew as the Olympians.

I was about to speak, but then I realized; there's twelve Olympians. I did a headcount. Zeus, Hera, Poseidon . . .

"Where's Athena?" I asked.

Zeus perked his head up. "She's not here."

My father, Poseidon managed to push his brother aside. "Athena is having problems, she's—"

Zeus elbowed my dad in the stomach.

Suddenly, mist swirled around the gathering of gods. A voice spoke in my mind, it sounded like Kronos, but he's since dissipated into mist, and scattered, and I haven't heard of him since.

This voice sounded the same, screechy and metallic. _That is enough, you will find out soon enough from close sources about the whereabouts of the goddess. Good luck half-blood._

There was no maniacal laughter as it exited, just a blinding flash of light.

I woke up to the night sound of crickets and a brooding howl from the woods. I glared at my alarm clock. I read four in the morning. I slammed my head back into my pillow, but to no avail. I lay there for fifteen minutes rolling over countless time. Finally, I couldn't stand it; I had to do something.

I got up out of bed and went over to the sword fighting arena. Sword play always calms me down.

Slashing and rolling, dodging and stabbing left me drenched in sweat. I was so involved in what I was doing at the moment; I didn't even realize that I wasn't the only person in the arena.

"Calm down, Seaweed Brain, we do need those to last all summer, you know."

I jumped up nervously, and instinctively slashed my sword, almost taking off Annabeth's head; making her yelp.

"Sorry." I said.

"It's—it's okay." She managed, though she wasn't sounding like she meant it.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I could ask you the same question." She said, standing up and climbing down the stone steps.

I watched as Annabeth circled around me, keeping her finger pressing against my shoulder, wrapping around my shoulder blades and back around my other shoulder. I couldn't help but start to sweat in spite of myself.

"So Percy," she said, speaking into my ear, "Are you feeling alright?"

I looked her straight in her eyes, "I could ask you the same question."

Annabeth stopped cold in her tracks. She stared at me, but in the moonlight, all I could see was a dark silhouette of her body, but her stormy grey eyes could be seen a mile away; the eyes that always seemed to see right into me, to see the part that I wanted to bring out, but just couldn't.

I sighed and dropped my sword. It clattered on the ground. "Annabeth—"

"Shhh . . ." she said, putting her finger to her lips. "Listen Percy, sit down." I sat down and she followed, her eyes still trained on mine. "Earlier today, you were asking why I was acting depressed and I snapped at you. I'm sorry; I was just having trouble taking the news spreading around Olympus."

"What news?" I asked.

Annabeth sat quietly on the stone steps in the moonlight. I was about to re-ask the question, but Annabeth spoke first.

"Percy," she said, her voice was so dangerously close to tears, she had to revert to whispering. "Athena is leaving the council of Olympians. She's—she's giving up her thrown."

"What?" I asked.

She was again silent. I felt terrible for her.

"Sounds like someone needs a hu—" I said.

Before I could finish what I was saying, she tackled me and wrapped her arms around me. I gasped for air, but I still gave her a hug back. Annabeth was warm as a fire, but shaking like a leaf, I couldn't blame her. In spite of the bad experiences I'd had with Athena in the past, I couldn't help but remember Hestia, the last goddess to give up a thrown on Olympus, It must be hard, not knowing where to go or who would except you.

I asked the next thing that came to mind, "Why?"

Annabeth looked away; I saw that a boundary had been crossed. "It's okay; you don't have to tell me." I put in quickly.

"No," she said, "It's okay. Athena is leaving because she thinks that nothing is being solved on Olympus, there's no thought put into any of the gods' decisions, and they can't stop arguing to save their lives."

"But they're immortal, right?"

"That's not the point Seaweed Brain." She said, "The point is, Athena is leaving because wisdom has no place on Olympus, it's just arguing and brash decisions, and no one can get a word in without being judged."

"Oh, Annabeth." I said, squeezing her tighter.

"Percy," she said, "That's only the worst part. If Athena's not an Olympian, Camp Half-Blood will have no choice but to demolish the cabin dedicated to her, and the campers living in the cabin will have no-where to go"

"There's always the Hermes cabin."

"There's another point; Hermes cabin only takes in his children and unclaimed half-bloods who don't know their parentage. We all do."

"Then we'll ask Chiron as soon as he wakes up." I suggested.

"Alright." She agreed.

"Well," I said looking towards my cabin, "We'd better get back to bed. Good night."

I turned back towards Annabeth. Her face was very close to mine.

Then, without warning, Annabeth leaned in and kissed me.

I took the surprise positively, and gave the kiss back. For the longest time of my life, I was holding the one person who meant more to me than anyone else in the world. She kept her arms wrapped around me and I followed her lead. When we broke away, my vision was spinning and my heart was pumping.

"Uh . . ." I managed.

Annabeth smiled at me "I've known you for six years Percy Jackson and I believe I can trust you more than anyone else, even Chiron. You're always so kind and caring; always putting others before yourself, and if I am thrown out of camp, I'll always remember you for that."

It sounded way too final to me, which made me sad and a little spiteful, but I managed to snap out of it, "Sure thing Annabeth." I said.

She smiled at me one more time and got up, "Good night."

"Good night."

AS she left, I thought that maybe it could be the last few times I see her, the last few chances to express . . . certain feelings.

After five minutes, I fell asleep again, still on the steps of the arena.


	3. The Questioning

The Questioning

I didn't have a dream when I fell asleep, but I didn't need to, I already thought I knew what lay ahead: we had to find Athena, and bring her back to Olympus.

I woke up still lying on the bench, a group of campers, were shaking my shoulder, probably wanting me to leave so they could get some practice time in.

But as I looked up, I saw a bunch of kids that looked so much like Annabeth, I figured she cloned herself, and then I saw that they were just her siblings. They all had worried expressions on their faces that told me Annabeth had a story to tell.

I saw Sophia in the small crowd; she was out front, and also the leader of the cabin behind Annabeth. I looked at her, "Can I help you?" I asked.

"We want to know what's up with our sister." She said.

"I'd gladly tell you Sophia," I said, "But I know that is some way or another, all of you are armed."

"I promise, we aren't." she said. "Annabeth just told us you knew what's wrong."

"I do, but I'm not the one to ask, she is."

"So just tell us." She pressured.

"Did she tell you to come ask me for the answer or did she just say that I knew what's going on?" I asked.

"She doesn't want us to know."

I sighed, "So listen to her."

Sophia rolled her eyes and walked out of the arena, everyone else followed.

I figured now was a good time to talk to Annabeth again.

I spent the next fifteen minutes searching the entire camp for her, but she was nowhere to be found. Then, I had an idea.

I rushed into my cabin, and went into the bathroom. I opened a window and took out a golden drachma from my pocket. Next, I closed my eyes and willed the sink to spray a mist of water towards the open window. Seconds later, a rainbow appeared.

I raised the coin above my head, "Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me where Annabeth Chase is." I tossed the coin in the mist and it disappeared. In place of the gold, was a scene that I recognized well, the beach just inside the camp borders; I never checked there, because I knew Annabeth wouldn't go there without me, much less to think alone. Then, I saw Annabeth, sitting in front of a sand dune, staring out at the waves. I couldn't see her face, but I knew it was her. I was silent, as I cut off the connection and slipped outside my cabin.

I half walked, half ran down to the beach. I saw Annabeth sitting there, and walked up behind her. She noticed me, turned around, stared at me for half a second, and turned again back to face the waves.

She took a deep, shaky breath, "You told them, didn't you?" she asked.

"No," I said, "I didn't, but I can't believe you wouldn't."

"It doesn't involve them." She said, almost snapping at me.

I took a seat next to her. "She's their mom too. It involves them as much as it does you."

She turned to look at me, "If you knew what was going on, you would know that it's not for everyone to know."

"They're your brothers and sisters, Annabeth; they deserve to know what's going on."

"I know that, Percy." She said, "But none of them can handle it."

"You could barely handle it." I said, "You were sitting around by yourself for a week, crying, and complaining and no one else knew what the problem was until last night."

"I don't need this." Annabeth said as she stood up hastily, stomped her foot on the ground, and turned around towards the camp.

"You need someone to talk to about it."

"I need my mom!" Annabeth shouted.

Now under certain circumstances, when someone said that, I would have cracked a smile or something, but with Annabeth, I knew what she meant, and I also knew why she wanted to keep it between us. She thought that by telling her siblings, it would arise to be like the council, arguments and yelling, just what Athena doesn't need.

I sighed again, "C'mon Annabeth."

She wouldn't even stop walking, "Shut up Percy, if all you're going to do is pressure me into telling them, and possibly destroying Olympus, then I don't want to see you _ever again!_"

She stormed off. I let her go; I knew firsthand what making her angry could do.

I stayed at the beach for a long while, staring out at the water that seemed to rock the world back and forth. My dad was out there somewhere, I hadn't seen him in the longest time, and part of me thought, a prayer wouldn't hurt.

I stood and walked into the waves up to my knees. "Hey Dad," I said, "Something's not right on Olympus, Athena is leaving and I want to get her back on her throne. Anything to get Annabeth back to her regular self; it's not right for anyone, including you. Ignore the rivalry; she's your family so help get her back so things will settle back down. Athena's not someone any of you want as an enemy."

I stepped out of the waves, completely dry as usual, but I still felt something was weighing me down.

I went back to the camp, feeling the same as I had leaving it. Anticipated; something was bothering Annabeth, and it was bothering me too. If Athena was leaving Olympus that means something was going bad; very bad. If the goddess of wisdom leaving power would that make everyone stupid? (Some people couldn't spare the brain cells). Personally, I couldn't either.

When I stepped back into camp grounds, I'd made up my decision. I was going to get Athena back on her throne rather she liked it or not. And Annabeth was going to help me.


	4. The Fortelling

The Prophecy

As soon as I stepped back onto the ground of Camp Half-Blood, I bolted straight towards the big house. If anyone knew how to solve this problem, it was Chiron.

I was about to knock on the door, but before I could, the doorknob twisted and Chiron stepped out onto the porch. He was standing in full centaur form, a sleek white stallion standing underneath a middle aged guy with brown hair and a scruffy beard the same color. His eyes were trained directly on me.

"Chiron," I said, "Hi."

"Hello Percy." He said, "I suppose you are here to talk about Annabeth?"

"How did you know?" I asked. "Was she here?"

Chiron nodded, "She left about five minutes before you arrived, to talk about the issue involving Athena."

I stared at him, "How did you know?" I asked.

"Athena is my niece Percy." Chiron said.

I thought about it, tracing the family tree of the gods in my mind. He was right; being a son of the evil Titan Lord Kronos made him Zeus' brother, and Athena's uncle. I traced in even farther; Chiron was my uncle too. Weird.

"Oh," I said, "Yeah."

"Percy," Chiron said, changing the subject, "Annabeth said she came to you with the issue first."

He sounded jealous, which was sort of funny if you looked at it from the right perspective. "Yeah," I said, "But I don't know why, I mean, sure I was the closest to her at the time, but why me?"

Chiron stared at me with his ancient eyes, which made me nervous, "I think you know why Percy." He said.

Despite the fact that he probably didn't mean it that way, I couldn't help but blush in spite of my self. "Not really."

Chiron's gaze met mine, "It's because she trusts you Percy."

"So out of all the people in the entire world, she could tell, Annabeth chose to tell me, because she trusts me?" I asked.

Chiron nodded.

"I knew I was awesome."

"Percy," Chiron said, "Annabeth and I both think it's best for _you_ to consult the Oracle."

"Why not Annabeth?" I asked, "Athena is her mom."

"She doesn't want to bear what it might tell her."

I thought about it for a second, "Wait," I said, "The Oracle isn't a mummy in the attic anymore, it's in Rachel."

Rachel Elizabeth Dare had been my friend since I'd tried to kill her with a sword, all the way up until she accepted the role as the Oracle of Delphi, the prophetess we use at camp to get prophecies for quests. As far as I knew, she was back home in New York.

"Which leaves you only one choice." Chiron determined.

"Find Rachel?" I guessed.

Again, Chiron nodded.

"Alright, fine."

Later in the day, (actually, right after I darted away from Chiron) I found Annabeth in her cabin reading some architectural book I wouldn't have been able to make sense of in a million years.

"Hey, Annabeth." I said.

She looked up, not seeming to be angry or upset with me anymore, a big relief, seeing as if she wanted to, she could slice me up into a nice Percy-pie. "Hmm?"

"Chiron said you wanted me to consult the Oracle," I said, "We have to go find Rachel."

Annabeth nodded and put down her book, "Alright, let's go."

That struck me as a little bit weird. See, Annabeth and Rachel, when they'd first met two years ago, had been at each others' throats until they found similar interests and then, just like that, they became friends.

We found Rachel where we did last time; posing for some hippie body art show with a bunch of her fellow artists. She noticed us immediately, and ordered someone on the ground to take her place.

Rachel got down from the lifted tarp she was posing on, and came over to us.

"Hey guys." She said with a smile.

"Hi Rachel." Annabeth said.

I turned my face away, Rachel had been something of a girlfriend, I guess that's what you would call it, and now that she was the Oracle, she isn't allowed to have any relationships with guys.

She saw me, "Percy, are you okay?"

"Yeah," I lied, "Listen, Rachel—"

"—stop there, and let me do the math," she said, "Half-bloods plus me equals you want a prophecy, right."

I stared at her.

"Yeah." Annabeth said.

"Alright," Rachel said, "Come with me."

Rachel led us to an alley between two red brick buildings. She told us that mortals couldn't see the prophecies being told out, or else they'd die of sanity on the spot.

Rachel turned toward us and stood still as stone. Then the awkward part: green mist started to pour from her mouth. I don't know how that felt to Rachel, but staring at it right now made my stomach do summersaults. Rachel spoke, but it sounded like her voice was multiplied by three.

"_Rescue the goddess or suffer her fall._

_Regret of Olympus, plagues wisdom of all._

_Mind over matter, no blade shall be pulled._

_Chaos sprung forth from the cracks in the skull._

_Silence the deafness of extrovert parade._

_To listen to reason or end the fifth age."_

I wanted to give up all hope of doing this after hearing the last two lines; like anyone on Olympus would shut up long enough to listen to anyone else get a word in. And the fifth age thing; that's Zeus' reign, who knows what's going down after that.

Rachel's mouth cleared up and she turned back to normal.

Both Annabeth and I stood still for the longest time.

"We'd better get going," I said after we'd snapped out of it. "Thanks Rachel."

Rachel nodded, but was otherwise emotionless. She walked out of the alley, and went back to her work.

Annabeth nudged me, "C'mon, Seaweed Brain, let's move."

We turned the corner back into the street.

I stopped and stared at Rachel; I wondered what was going on between us.

I was about to go and talk to her, but just then, Annabeth grabbed me by the back of my shirt, whistled for a taxi, and threw me in.


	5. The Beginning

**Now I know you guys who read my stories have been searching and searching for the Percabeth in my writing. Don't worry; it's coming up, maybe not in this chapter, but soon. Jokes too, I might add are part of Percy's character and wouldn't complete any fan fiction without them. I no own PJO. This chapter may suck, just tell me. Thanks!**

The Beginning

The taxi ride seemed to lead nowhere until I realized Annabeth's intentions. She was driving us to Olympus. The taxi ride was conversational all the way there.

"I know she's up there?" Annabeth said, "She has to be."

"You don't sound so sure." I said.

She glared at me, but said nothing.

We sped down 5th Avenue and the driver stopped the taxi at the entrance to the Empire State Building, just an airplane's height below Mount Olympus.

Annabeth handed the driver a wad of mortal cash. We exited out on Thirty-Fourth Street and walked into the lobby.

Annabeth walked up to a large, bald man behind the desk. He was reading a comic book that looked vaguely like Superman. "We need the 'special' elevator card." She said.

The receptionist stared blankly at her. "There's only one card down here, miss, so unless you're here for an appointment with someone in the building, you need to leave."

I could tell Annabeth was getting impatient. "We need to see Zeus." She said.

"Who?" The man asked.

"You heard me."

The man's jaw clenched and he stared back at his comic book; I figured it was pretty good, considering the fact that he had the guts to ignore Annabeth, something I wouldn't recommend. "I need a reason." He said.

"Alright, pal," Annabeth said, "Here's your reason. The goddess of wisdom and war is angry, and unless you want death, you'll let us pass."

Now, I don't know where Annabeth gets off threatening mortals, but I understood her motives. We were close to a broken council, and the stress from Athena is giving her pressure.

The man gave Annabeth a malicious look, but handed her the card key.

"Alright, Percy," she said, "Let's go."

I followed her.

We rode up the elevator in silence. That is, until the doors opened, leaving us with the image of Hermes blocking the walkway to Olympus. And he wasn't in a good mood.

"Hermes," I said, "Why are you here." It sounded a lot harsher than I'd meant, but Hermes just sighed.

"God of Roads at your service. And this," he said spreading out his hand behind him, "Is a road."

Hermes shot a glance at Annabeth. "Your mother isn't in a good mood, and as you can see, it's affecting the rest of us. If you wish to see her, come with me."

We followed Hermes up the main road toward the throne room, but stopped as the road forked off in a million different directions, something I hadn't noticed before.

"Your mother is down that road." Hermes said, pointing down the road to the far left. "Follow it, but watch out." As he finished his sentence, Hermes disappeared.

"Ready?" I asked Annabeth.

"Ready as ever." She responded.

Walking down the road was easy enough, but I could smell tension in the air.

At the end of the road was a temple that looked familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Annabeth, being Annabeth, seemed to read my mind.

"That's Athena's favorite temple. It was built to look like the Parthenon did before it was destroyed, but—"

"But what?" I asked.

"Nothing." She said.

Annabeth walked cautiously into the temple, so I followed her lead, hoping she knew her mother better than I did.

Apparently, the Parthenon had been completely awesome back twenty-five hundred years ago. The floors were polished marble, letting me see my own reflection any way I turned. The columns were also polished marble, double lying out around the main floor. Inside the columns were walls covering the top and bottom thirds of the building, leaving the center bare to see the columns and outside. The walls were decorated with every kind of precious gems and metals you could imagine; rubies, sapphires, diamonds, gold, and silver. A polished, shiny bronze brazier burned at the far end of the room, standing in from of a gold leaf scroll inscribed with ancient Greek writing that I couldn't see from where I was standing. In front of the brazier, staring up at the writing was Athena.

I stopped as I saw her. I had a feeling she knew we were here, but Annabeth kept forward, stumbling/walking toward her other.

Oh gods, I thought, she's going to get blasted to ashes.

I was about to follow, but when Annabeth got halfway across the room; Athena turned around and called out, echoing across the room, "Stop!"

Her voice was so shrill, I wanted to make a run for it before she turned me into a hamster and sent her owl after me, but something told me not to leave.

Annabeth must have sensed something in me, because she turned her gaze back to me. Her expression was confused and basically yelling, 'Get your but over here, or I'll turn you into a hamster myself.'

I walked cautiously over by Annabeth's side, hoping Athena wouldn't turn on me and bite my head off or something. My mind was on the prophecy the entire time. _Rescue the goddess or suffer her fall._ If Athena's position was as high as I thought it was, I'd probably be the one to fall . . . you know, thrown off the mountainside and splat on the ground kind of fall.

"Mother . . ." Annabeth said. "What happened to you?"

She was right; Athena normally wore army clothes or a white dress of whatever, with blond hair and a proud expression. Now she was dressed in an outfit that made Ares, the god of war, look down right childish.

Her hair was black and streaked with grey, like mine was from holding up the sky, but her hair was streaked silver in multiple spots. She wore a bronze breastplate under a one shouldered, white Greek chiton. Her sword was strapped at her side; a kopis, or slashing sword with a curved silver blade with a gold hilt. In her right hand was her spear, an eight foot long black shaft with a bronze hilt sparking with energy. Her shield, the aegis was around her back with leather covering on it, thank the gods. And her helmet; a Corinthian helmet gleaming silver, with an owl embroidered at the front of her black horse-hair plume was tilted on her head like it is in most of the sculptures I'd seen of her. She had a white barn owl on her shoulder and leather sandals on her feet. I could see now how Ares wasn't ever able to beat her in a fight. I was almost about to cry.

I remembered the prophecy one last time; _rescue the goddess. _If anything, someone was going to have to rescue us from her.

Athena cleared her throat. "The gods have not been kind to me, they have turned defiant of wisdom and war is almost at a brink as a result." Then she stared directly at me, making me feel small, "You father, Percy Jackson, is ironically, one of the only ones taking my side, and attempting to silence the other gods. For that, I am grateful."

I gulped hard, "Thanks." I managed.

She turned back toward her daughter, "Annabeth, you have both heard of the rumors floating around this mountain. I must confirm this, and I would hope you know there is only one thing you can do to prevent it."

"Let me guess," Annabeth said, "Get the others to shut up long enough to listen to reason?"

"And to agree with one another." Athena granted.

"Then there's only one way to do that." I put in, "And we're going to need your to help to do it."


	6. The End

**This is the last chapter in this fan fiction. It may be too short, but it gets to the point. Good luck. Review!!!!**

Athena took her time to answer, but in the end, she nodded and walked toward the entrance to her temple.

Walking down the road was spooky enough on Olympus, but now it was foggy in the streets and Annabeth and I were walking behind a totally steamed goddess with a bunch of weapons in her hand. Still, Annabeth and I were practically shoulder to shoulder.

Following the countless roads was like playing the game where you have to connect items through lines; it was like following spaghetti.

After I left like I was back in the Labyrinth again, Athena stopped in her tracks, leaving me to run straight into her.

"Sorry." I said, but I had a feeling Athena didn't even feel it.

"The throne room is up there." She said, pointing her spear in the direction, "But I'm afraid this is as far as I will go."

She turned back toward her temple, but I just couldn't hold my tongue anymore.

"So that's it Athena?" I asked. I hadn't even turned around.

The footsteps stopped, and for a second I realized I was in big trouble. I could feel her eyes bore a hole through me.

"So you're just going to give up and walk away to sulk?" I continued. "What about your family? What's going to happen once wisdom is gone? What's going to happen to your cabin at camp, to your children? What then?"

"Percy Jackson," Athena said, her tone was surprisingly calm and collective. "You dare not turn toward me with that tone. My children will flourish. But wisdom wants no place among the quarrels of the gods."

She turned to walk away. I turned around to watch her go, but my eyes flowed toward her daughter. Annabeth had stood there mute and motionless, staring straight ahead like a statue.

"You know, Athena." I said, "Someone once told me that the most dangerous flaws are those which are good in moderation. Evil is easy to fight. Lack of wisdom is much harder. I thought at first that you were talking to me, but now I think you were talking about yourself. Even gods have flaws. I think yours may be right up that road."

Athena turned around and walked slowly back up to me, which made me want to erase what I'd just said, and close my mouth forever.

"Perseus," she said, her voice wasn't that calm anymore. Not good. "I have no flaw. I am a goddess."

I didn't even hesitate, "Personal Sanctuary." I said, "You want to get away from things when they don't go your way. You want to hide yourself out and hope that wisdom will win. But in reality, wisdom doesn't come naturally, it has to be taught."

Athena stared at me with her stormy eyes, and then she turned back toward her temple. I let her go. I was done arguing.

I walked off toward the throne room, but Annabeth stayed where she was. I turned back toward her. _Great,_ I thought, _she's either torn apart or Medusa went super ninja on her._

I went back and grabbed her by the wrist. "C'mon," I said, "She'll be back."

Reluctantly, she went with me.

Minutes later, we pushed through the doors of the throne room, only to meet the gaze of eleven super tall, powerful gods.

"Where is Athena?" My father, Poseidon asked.

"She's not here." Annabeth answered for me.

"She will be." I assured her.

Zeus cleared his throat, "What do you plan to do about my daughter's leaving of the council?" The question seemed to be targeted toward everyone.

"She's not going to leave." I said, "I highly doubt she'll risk it."

"But—" Zeus started.

He was interrupted by Athena bursting through the council doors, getting a disappointing eye from nearly everyone, excluding Annabeth and me.

"The boy is right," she said, staring at me, "But he did teach me something. Even the gods have flaws. I have been hiding behind mine for too long.

My father spoke next. "So you are not going to divide our council?"

Athena nodded, "One of the sayings of this country is united we stand, divided we fall. I think that is true to Olympus as well."

I stood there in the throne room; staring around me at the mixed complexions of the gods I called family as they watched Athena take her rightful seat back upon her thrown. As soon as she sat, a shock wave force tremored through my body.

I turned toward Annabeth, grinning, we were standing there in the center of the room, everyone watching us. Then, she did it. Annabeth kissed me.

Immediately, I felt a shock of embarrassment jolt through me; both our parents were watching us, probably wanting to kill the other.

But I didn't care.

I held her for the full ten seconds I couldn't remember or care what my name was. Then I realized where we were.

I pulled away to look at Annabeth's face.

"You know we're being stared at now, don't you?" I asked her, whispering.

She smiled playfully, "Then I guess they'll have to deal with it, Seaweed Brain, because life has love. And besides; Greek Eyes were meant to stare."

I smiled, staring down at our feet; they were dancing to an invisible tune. I went in for another kiss, this one determined to make Aphrodite jealous. "So let them stare."

**And that's the end; I hope you understand the title of the story now. Tell me your overall thought and maybe throw me some clues as to what I could use as a sequel. :) **

**~ Ares Burn**


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